Lungu threatens to fire absentee MPs

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says he will fire any minister who does not find time to visit their constituencies.

Speaking when he addressed Samfya residents today, President Lungu said MPs must be proactive in their constituencies to ensure that development was delivered.

“I want to emphasize that it is no longer the role of members of parliament to just sit in Lusaka and make noise, the member of parliament should be in the community and ensure we are delivering the promises we made to the people of Zambia. I don’t care if you have been appointed minister or not I won’t take an excuse of saying, I am very busy because I am a minister, I can’t visit the constituency that I will not take it!” President Lungu exclaimed.

“If you are a minister and you are finding it difficult to attend to your constituency business because of ministerial function I will remove you that ministerial function! I have been a minister before and others have been ministers before and we have managed to run our constituencies and also do the ministerial functions very well and successfully and that is why some of us are where we are today.”

He said it was embarrassing that some ministers pretended to be too busy for those who put them in office.

And President Lungu insisted that he would take development to the rural parts of the country to promote equal development for all.

“I will spend most of my time touring the country to ensure that the people you elected me with are working because if these people don’t work I will be deemed to have failed, I will not let you down,” said President Lungu.

“It is for that reason that I have ordered all my members of parliament to be in their constituencies every time chance allows them to do so, I want to know what’s happening in the communities.”

Meanwhile President Lungu also appealed to civil servants to cooperate with political leaders to enhance efficiency.